Schahram Akbarian, M.D., Ph.D.

Joined the Scientific Council in 2010

Professor of Psychiatry and Neuroscience
Chief, Division of Psychiatric Epigenomics
Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai

Dr. Akbarian’s research includes epigenetic mechanisms—the study of heritable changes that occur without a change in the DNA sequence—and the neurobiology of major brain and behavior disorders, including depression, schizophrenia and related neurodevelopmental diseases. His work explores underlying molecular and cellular pathologies in the diseased brain and involves testing novel treatments in preclinical mouse model systems.

Dr. Akbarian heads the Division of Psychiatric Epigenomics in the Departments of Psychiatry and Neuroscience at Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai. Prior to this, he was the Director of the Brudnick Neuropsychiatric Research Institute and Associate Professor at the University of Massachusetts Medical School. A board certified psychiatrist and molecular neuroscientist, he trained at the Massachusetts General Hospital in Boston, the Whitehead Institute for Biomedical Research in Cambridge and the University of California at Irvine.

NARSAD Grants: Young Investigator 1993 and 2000

Foundation Prizes: 1997 Klerman Prize for Exceptional Clinical Research by a Young Investigator

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